Apathy is the Road to All Evil
by Booter-Freak
Summary: A dialog between two very different characters...


Just a little dialog between characters I did...

* * *

"Unnnngh..." 

"Oh, you're awake. Good—for a while, I thought you had been beaten to death."

"Urrrgh...wh...where am I?"

"I'm afraid you're in a Fire Nation prison, young man. You were unconscious when the soldiers dragged you in here. Are you all right?"

"Other than being in the hands of the Fire Nation? Wonderful. Ahh—"

"You'd best leave that wound alone."

"I'm fine."

"...Tell me, what is one so young as yourself doing in a place like this?"

"..."

"I understand. My name is Shiyu. What is yours, if you would be willing to tell it?"

"Jet."

"...Is that your real name?"

"For the last eight years it has been. What's with all the questions?...Are you a soldier disguised as a prisoner to get information out of me? You'll get _nothing_."

"No, no, I am a prisoner too. I was sent here after helping the Avatar."

"So you've met him?"

"Oh, have you?"

"Yes. And his traitorous companions."

"Traitorous?"

"Yes. They have forgotten what the Fire Nation has done to them, and would rather sit by and watch them infect the entire world than take action."

"That is not the impression I received. The seemed very determined to help the Avatar on his quest."

"The Avatar is no better than them."

"I don't understand."

"If the Avatar had truly meant to rid the world of the Fire Nation, he would have let the dam break, no matter what the sacrifices, instead of trying to stop it."

"But...the Avatar's duty is not to rid the world of the Fire Nation, but to end its war. And what do you mean by dam?"

"What sort of fool would allow the Fire Nation to exist after all the terrible things it's done? Think of all the atrocities! Think of what they could do, if they came into power again! They must be _destroyed_! We had a golden opportunity to kill all the Firebenders stationed in the village of the valley, but the Avatar and his friends threw it away for a handful of people."

"You...you were willing to kill innocent people in order to hurt the Fire Nation?"

"Yes! It would have been a great victory!"

"How is killing innocents in any way victorious?"

"...I see. You're like _them_. Like Katara. She failed to see the big picture too. I would have thought she understood, after all she'd suffered at the hands of the Fire Nation. But no. Like her brother and the Avatar, she focuses only on the small losses and refuses to see the greater good."

"...You can dismiss innocent life so casually?"

"The Fire Nation does it. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire."

"Are you sure you are not becoming the fire yourself?"

"I am not like them. Don't ever say I'm like them."

"But you are both willing to kill innocents..."

"It is the _reasons_ that make us different! The Fire Nation kills to spread oppression and suffering! I kill to liberate!"

"How can you liberate the dead?"

"Sokka used that same tired argument."

"Perhaps because it raises a good point?"

"What point? That it's better to have _all_ live miserably and in fear than _some_ in freedom and happiness?"

"And what of those who died?"

"They were necessary sacrifices."

"I do not see what is necessary about them. There are other ways to attain freedom without the expense of others."

"Like what, exactly?"

"Like what the Avatar is doing. Bringing balance and equilibrium to the four countries."

"Did you not listen to what I said before? The Fire Nation must be_ destroyed!_"

"But if the Avatar brings balance, there won't be need to."

"Yes, there is! And it's not just about need—it's also about what they deserve! Justice!"

"You would condemn an entire nation for the evils of its monarchy?"

"They're _all_ the same. Every last one of them. Which is why they must be destroyed—to make the pay and to prevent them from ever coming back again."

"Not all the people of the Fire Nation are evil."

"Yes, they are."

"I'm not evil.

"So?"

"I am from the Fire Nation."

"_What_?"

"Careful! You musn't move so suddenly! Your wound!"

"So, you _are_ here to get information out of me!"

"No, I am a prisoner, just as I said before! I was once a priest at the temple of Avatar Roku, until I was arrested and brought here for aiding the Avatar in contacting his previous life!"

"Why would a priest of the Fire Nation help the Avatar?"

"Not _all _of the Fire Nation is content with the war—myself included. Many of our people are unhappy with it—even some of our highest ranked military officers have left the war."

"So? Just because a few aren't for the war, that doesn't excuse the entire nation!"

"You are still willing to sacrifice innocents to destroy a nation that is not entirely evil?"

"It is for the greater good."

"That is what the Fire Lord uses to justify his war."

"I am not like him! I am not like your nation!"

"What you're doing, Jet, it's not right."

"Who are you to say? You're Fire Nation!"

"..._sigh_... The world is not in black and white, my boy."

"I know that."

"Then why do you insist on seeing it only that way?"

"Because if you view the world in too much grey, you lose sight of your goal."

"Revenge?"

"..."

"Jet, you claim that those who would rather spare lives than hurt the Fire Nation do not see the 'big picture'. But it is you, young man, who I believe is blind."

"I am not blind. I just see things differently."

"Only the blind cannot see the suffering they bring to others."

"I do see it. But I recognize it is necessary."

"So you choose to ignore it."

"I don't ignore it. Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Rationalizing it until it goes away is little more than blindness by choice."

"If you and others want to get sidetracked by every little thing you see, that's your choice. Me, my sight is on what's most important—the goal."

"And you don't care what it takes to reach it?"

"Like I said...it's all necessary."

"..._sigh_...Young man, it is a dark road you take. Apathy is the road to all evil."

* * *

I love Shiyu. He makes such a good debate opponent to Jet. I mean, Zuko would probably just end up getting into a brawl with him, and Jeong Jeong would probably listen to Jet for a few minutes beforeagreeing and going off to angstin a dark corner, lol.

Hope you enjoyed!


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